Rhodes awaiting Board~~s clearance for Pak job

Lahore:After all the hype surrounding Jonty Rhodes' appointment as the fielding consultant of Inzamam-ul Haq's team, comes the news that the South African is yet to be cleared by his Board to take up the job and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is already drawing a list of possible replacements in case he backs out.

''It's now up to him (Rhodes) to decide whether to accept our offer or decline it. But our information is that he'll get back to us after speaking and getting clearance from the United Board of South Africa,'' PCB Director Operations Abbas Zaidi was quoted by The News as saying.

''That is the exact position of this matter. Obviously we've heard he is also being lined up for a stint with the South African team as fielding consultant before the World Cup. But we've completed our discussions with him,'' Mr Zaidi added.

Meanwhile Rhodes, who had earlier said he would take up the job after being requested by his former coach Bob Woolmer, now with the Pakistan team, as it has turned out was still to meet the South African Board chief Gerald Majola and discuss the matter with him.

''I've spoken to the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA), and am meeting Gerald Majola and Vince van der Bijl, CEO of professional cricket, next week to ensure they have no problem with this,'' Rhodes was quoted as saying.

In between, PCB chief Shahryar Khan was busy defending Rhodes' appointment after several former cricketers, including former coach and captain Javed Miandad, criticised the decision.

''Obviously we do not expect our fielders to become like Rhodes, as some ex-players have thought. But we want our national team, our academy and younger players to have exposure to his thinking,'' the PCB chief said.

''We know standards will not improve overnight but we want to instill into the team, into the academy, into the cricketing structure of the country, the importance of fielding as a discipline and this process can begin by bringing Rhodes to Pakistan,'' Mr Khan added.